More money moves
Paul Hastings and Ropes & Gray has raised the salaries of their newly qualified (NQ) lawyers in London to £173,000 and £165,000 respectively.
For Paul Hastings, this marks a 5% increase from the previous pay packet of £164,000, and results from a change in conversion rate from £1 = US$1.31 to £1 = $1.3.
The Legal Cheek Firms Most List shows that Paul Hastings take on 12 trainees each year, offering a healthy £55,000 in year one, and £60,000 in year two.
Meanwhile, Ropes’ increase equates to an extra 12% with rates previously sitting at £147,000. The new £165,000 salary excludes bonus and is effective of 1 January.
The firm has also raised its London trainee salaries to £60,000 in year one (up from £57,500) and £65,000 in year two (up from £62,500). It offers around 12 training contracts each year.
This is the latest raise in a new pay war ignited by top US player Cravath Swaine & Moore last year, which has seen fellow US outfits Milbank and Akin up their London NQ rates to $225,000 (approximately £177,500).